|
| July 16, 2005 | Saturday | Jumadi-us-Sani 8, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
At least 58 killed, 86 hurt by bomb south of Baghdad BAGHDAD, July 16 (AFP) - At least 58 people were killed and 86 wounded in a powerful bomb attack Saturday evening close to a mosque in Al-Musayyib, 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of the capital, an interior ministry official said.A bomb was believed to have been put on a petrol tanker, which blew up, setting neighbouring houses on fire, the official said.(Posted @ 23:55 PST)
Abbas issues stern warning to Palestinian militants GAZA, July 16 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a stern warning to militants on Saturday, saying he would not tolerate any further internal fighting or violations of a ceasefire with Israel. Abbas, in a televised speech to the Palestinian people, called on militant groups to reaffirm their commitment to the "calm" that he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a summit in February. An upsurge of violence in recent days has brought the truce close to collapse.(Posted @ 23:45 PST)
Indus water level rising at Taunsa barrage MULTAN, July 16 (APP): In view of the Indus water level rising at Taunsa Barrage DCO DG Khan Pervez Khusro Malik Saturday cancelled leave of the officials of the departments concerned. The DCO directed the officials to gird up their loins to cope with the situation arising out of the rise in the water level. He said the Indus water discharge at Taunsa barrage, at the moment, is 419,500 cusecs and it is likely to reach 450,000 cusecs. The DCO directed the officials to oversee the dykes and spurs. He also advised them to ensure distribution of relief goods among the flood affectees. A rep of the Irrigation Department told the DCO that water discharge at Chashma barrage is 490,334 cusecs while its outflow at Kalabagh is 482,000 and at Tarbela 388,000 cusecs.(Posted @ 23:25 PST)
Four killed, 18 injured in accident JOHARABAD, July 16 (APP): Four persons were killed and 18 others injured, four of them seriously, when a coaster heading towards Noorpur and a Pajero jeep collided on Noorpur -Thal Road, 45 km from here on Saturday(Posted @ 20:05 PST)
Indian troops martyr 24 Kashmiri youth ISLAMABAD, Jul 16 (APP): In a horrifying development in occupied Kashmir, the Indian troops martyred 24 Kashmiri youth in a single day. According to PTV, of those martyred, 11 were shot dead in Uri and Gurez in Baramulla, six at Keran and Chowkibal in Kupwara, three in Sunderbani area of Rajouri, two at Mahore in Udhampur and one each at Bon-Watseer in Handwara and Kaloosa in Bandipora. Complete shutdown was observed and protest demonstrations held in Dooru and Verinag areas of Islamabad against recent disgracing and later killing of a girl by Indian troops. Rallies were also held at Kakapora in Pulwama against molestation of woman by Indian troops in the area, last night. The senior leaders of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Prof Abdul Ghani Butt, Maulana Abbas Ansari and Bilal Ghani Lone, addressing public gatherings in Beerwah, Pattan and Warsan, condemned in strong terms using Kashmiri women as weapon of war by occupation forces. The Head of Jammu and Kashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi, Muhammad Azam Inquilabi, addressing a meeting of Central Working Committee in Srinagar pointed out that peace could not return to occupied Kashmir in the menacing presence of over 700,000 Indian troops.(Posted @ 19:55 PST)
Suicide bomber kills nine Iraqis, injures 20 south of Baghdad Baghdad (dpa) - A suicide bomber killed nine Iraqis and injured 20 Saturday south of Baghdad at a checkpoint manned by Iraqi soldiers and police, said police sources. The incident occurred at a checkpoint at the entrance of al-Iskandria, 85 kilometres south of the capital. The source said that six of the dead were soldiers and three were civilians. All of the injured were civilians.(Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Iraqi premier begins landmark visit to Teheran Teheran (dpa) - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari arrived in Teheran saturday for a three-day visit primarily aimed at coming to terms with the past, especially the devastating 1980-1988 war.The talks were also to cover a proposed oil pipeline from Basra to Abadan where Iraqi crude oil is proposed to be refined and returned to Iraq. A reported military pact and police training camps were discussed during al-Dalimi's visit to Teheran earlier this month but due to the United States military presence in Iraq, observers regard any agreements in this regard as merely rhetoric.(Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Iraq bombs kill police, British troops BAGHDAD, July 16 (Reuters) - Suicide bombers killed seven Iraqi policemen on Saturday and three British soldiers died in a roadside blast. The policemen were killed in Baghdad and near the northern city of Mosul in separate attacks. Saturday's blasts also wounded 28 policemen, police and hospital sources said. In Amara in southeast Iraq, three British soldiers were killed in what the Ministry of Defence in London said was a suspected roadside bomb. In Samarra, in the central Sunni heartland, locals reported that U.S. troops and Iraqi police had imposed a curfew after two civilians were killed by gunmen outside a U.S. base.(Posted @ 19:29 PST)
Saudi-based Muslim body dismisses US charge of terror funding RIYADH, July 16 (AFP) - A Saudi-based Islamic organization on Saturday denied US claims that it might be a conduit for terror financing, becoming the second Saudi-sponsored body to dismiss the charges in as many days. The Muslim World League "rejects anything linked to terrorism and is committed to Islam's stand, which prohibits terrorist acts," secretary general Abdullah al-Turki said in a statement from headquarters in the holy city of Mecca. The 45-year-old league was "one of the first international organizations to exert big efforts to combat terrorism." Turki said his organization was ready to cooperate with Islamic and international groups in order to "implement joint anti-terror programmes." The league has links with UN and other world bodies, and has outlined its "strategy" to fight terrorism during dialogues with the European parliament and other legislative bodies around the world, he added. The secretary general of the Saudi-run World Association of Muslim Youth had similarly rejected US accusations that it channels funds to Islamist extremists in remarks published on Friday.(Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Five killed in suspected suicide bombing in Turkish resort ANKARA, July 16 (AFP) - At least five people including a British and an Irish women were killed and 14 injured Saturday when a blast -- caused possibly by a young female suicide bomber -- ripped through a minibus in a resort on Turkey's Aegean coast popular with foreign tourists, officials said. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the blast in Kusadasi as a "terrorist attack" without putting the blame on a specific group, while police were considering the possibility of a suicide bombing or a parcel bomb left in the vehicle. "We are looking into all possibilities. Among them is the possibility of a girl, aged 16 or 17, acting as a suicide bomber," Kisadasi sub-governor Ali Baris told Anatolia news agency. "There is no definite conclusion yet." Two of the people killed in the blast were women.One was Irish national. Among the injured were six Britons, five seriously.The blast ripped through the minibus at around 10:30 am (0730 GMT) while it was arriving at its terminal station in the center of Kusadasi.(Posted @ 19:05 PST)
Taliban commander surrenders in eastern Afghanistan: official KHOST, Afghanistan, July 16 (AFP) - A Taliban commander wanted by US and Afghan forces has surrendered under an Afghan government amnesty scheme, an official said Saturday.The man identified as Mullah Gulshah Wazir, locally known as Mullah Tiktar, surrendered Friday in Khost province, police commander Ghafar Khan told AFP. Provincial intelligence head Sadik Tarakhil confirmed the surrender.(Posted @ 18:44 PST)
Al-Qaeda deputy trained with Russia's secret service: report WARSAW, July 16 (AFP) - Al-Qaeda's number two Aymanal-Zawahiri was trained by Russia's secret service and served as a KGB agent before becoming Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man, a former KGB secret agent told Poland's Rzeczpospolita newspaper on Saturday. "Ayman al-Zawahiri trained at a Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB) base in Dagestan in 1998," claimed ex-FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko who fled Russia in 2000. "He was then transferred to Afghanistan where he became Osama bin Laden's deputy", Litvinenko told the newspaper. "I was working in that section at the time and I can confirm the fact Zawahiri was not the only link between the FSB and Al-Qaeda", he said.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
PM presents 11-point agenda to improve health care in South Asia ISLAMABAD, Jul 16 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday floated an eleven point agenda for SAARC Health Ministers to share best practices, encourage scientific research and create a health system capable of responding to all emergencies. Addressing the Second SAARC Health Ministers' Conference, hours after his return from a five day hectic visit of Germany and Italy, the Prime Minister said South Asia has the potential to become one of the major global centers of economic power. He said South Asians were resilient and enterprising intelligent and industrious people, yet, many were still grappling with hunger, unemployment, high disease burden and poverty. He said the SAARC Health Ministers should focus on concrete actions to institutionalize the mechanism by which best practices can be shared, creating mutual dependencies and linkages.(Posted @ 17:02 PST)
US-led forces release 20 Afghan prisoners KABUL, July 16 (AFP) - The US military Saturday released another batch of 20 Afghan prisoners from its main detention center, where four Al-Qaeda-linked Arab militants escaped last week, officials said. This brought the number of freed prisoners this month to 210(Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Blair lashes out at 'evil ideology' of Islamic extremism LONDON, July 16 (AFP) - The world is confronting an "evil ideology" as it wages a hearts-and-minds struggle with Islamic extremism, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday. Speaking at a Labour Party policy conference, Blair dismissed suggestions that the July 7 bombings in London that claimed at least 55 lives were directly related to the Iraq conflict."The greatest danger is that we fail to face up to the nature of the threat that we're dealing with," he said."What we are confronting here is an evil ideology. It is a global struggle. It is a battle of ideas, of hearts and of minds, both within Islam and outside it... Do not let us underestimate or dismiss it."He rejected suggestions that the London bombings were a direct reaction to Iraq, saying: "If it is Iraq that motivates them, why is the same ideology killing Iraqis by terror in defiance of an elected Iraqi government?" Blair made his remarks as news was coming in from Turkey of an explosion in a minibus at an Aegean Sea resort that killed four people and injured at least two Britons.(Posted @ 16:28 PST)
Militants attack military helicopters in Philippines, soldier wounded MANILA, July 16 (AFP) – Militants opened fire on two military helicopters on an anti-terrorist mission in the southern Philippines, wounding a soldier, the Philippine military said Saturday. A Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman claimed that the attack forced one of the aircraft to crash-land near the town of Talayan on Mindanao island, but the military denied this. "Gunfire from the ground" wounded a soldier on board a military helicopter on Friday, spokesman Lt-ColRestituto Padilla told ABS-CBN television. Padilla said two military helicopters were attacked . The gunfire "came from the MILF positions"(Posted @ 16:22 PST)
Sri Lanka win first Test against West Indies COLOMBO, July 16 (AFP) - Sri Lanka defeated the West Indies by six wickets in the first cricket Test here on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. The hosts reached the target of 172 in the post-tea session of the fourth day with Thilan Samaraweera making 51 and Mahela Jayawardena returning unbeaten on 41.Brief scores: West Indies 285 (Ramdin 56, Chanderpaul 69 – Vaas 3/35, Malinga 4/71) and 113 (Cahnderpaul 48 n.o. – Vaas 4/15, Muralitheran 6/36); Sri Lanka 227 (Vaas 49 – Lawson 4/59)and 175-4(Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Eight dead in military helicopter crash in Chechnya: reports MOSCOW, July 16 (AFP) - Eight people died when a military helicopter crashed Saturday near the village of Itum-Kale in mountainous southern Chechnya near the border with Georgia, the Interfax news agency cited Colonel Alexander Drobyshevskiy, chief spokesman of Russia's airforce, as saying. "Three crew members and five passengers from the Tuzkharoi border guard unit died" The Mi-8 was was accompanied by two Mi-24 helicopters, which were able to accompany a rescue crew on board another helicopter to the scene, Drobyshevskiy said. (Posted @ 16:04 PST)
Moderate quake shakes south-western Pakistan ISLAMABAD, July 16 (AFP) - A moderate earthquake shook southwestern Pakistan Saturday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, officials said. The quake, which measured 5.5 on the Richter scale, was felt at 7:17 am (0217 GMT) in the Barkhan district of Baluchistan province, a seismological department official told AFP. Its epicentre was located some 600 kilometers southwest of the capital Islamabad, he said. Two minor quakes measuring 1.68 and 3.5 on Richter scale were also felt in the southern port city of Karachi at 4.48 am and 10:47 am respectively, but their epicentres could not be located, he said. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
China bus plunge kills 17 BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) - A bus carrying 55 people, including schoolchildren, plunged into a deep valley in southern China on Saturday killing 17 passengers, Xinhua news agency reported. Thirty-eight passengers were injured and eight were in critical condition, the agency added. (Posted @ 12:41 PST)
Taliban hang Afghan tribal chief KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 16 (Reuters) – Taliban militants hanged a pro-government tribal chief, Malik Agha, in the troubled southern Afghan province of Zabul, accusing him of being an American spy, officials said Saturday. Agha was the chief of a powerful tribe in Zabul near the border with Pakistan. (Posted @ 11:37 PST)
Pakistan detains two more suspects in London probe ISLAMABAD, July 16 (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces have detained two men in the eastern city of Lahore on suspicion of links with one of the suicide bombers in last week's attacks in London, an intelligence official said on Saturday. "We are interrogating whether these two people (detained in Lahore) had any links with (British born Shehzad) Tanweer," an intelligence official said but gave no details. (Posted @ 11:32 PST)
Three communist rebels killed in clash in northern Philippines MANILA, July 16 (AFP) - Three communist guerrillas were killed in a clash with an army patrol in the northern Philippines, the military said Saturday. About 17 other guerrillas, who have vowed to step up attacks on government targets across the Philippines in an attempt to further weaken the presidency of Gloria Arroyo, escaped after the fire fight, the military spokesman added. (Posted @ 10:56 PST)
Egypt says London bomb suspect has no Qaeda link CAIRO, July 16 (Reuters) - An Egyptian man, Magdy Elnashar, arrested in Egypt in connection with bombings in London last week has no link to al Qaeda, Egypt's interior minister was quoted as saying on Saturday. (Posted @ 10:12 PST)
Israel launches fresh air strikes as violence surges GAZA, July 16 (Reuters) - Israel launched fresh missile strikes in Gaza on Saturday, a day after it killed six Hamas militants, and vowed to keep targeting gunmen who fire rockets as a five-month ceasefire moved closer to collapse. The latest air raid destroyed three workshops, including a metal foundry, in Gaza City and the Khan Younis refugee camp and injured two Palestinian bystanders. The Israeli army said Hamas had used the structures to make munitions. Witnesses denied the workshops produced munitions. (Posted @ 09:24 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Tahir Mirza
The DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan.
Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777 Fax: +92 (21) 569-3995
webmaster@dawn.com
Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.
|
|
|
Contributions |